A home is a kingdom of it's own in the midst of the world, a stronghold amid life's storms and stresses, a refuge, even a sanctuary.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
The will of God, to which the law gives expression, is that men should defeat their enemies by loving them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the power of love over hatred, suggesting that one can overcome adversaries through compassion.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's quote conveys the profound idea that true strength lies not in revenge or hatred, but in love and compassion towards one's enemies. It suggests that adhering to a higher moral or spiritual law, as expressed through God's will, involves responding to animosity with kindness, ultimately transforming relationships and overcoming conflict.
Themes
LoveEnemiesForgivenessCompassionStrength
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon discussing forgiveness, this quote could be used to illustrate how love can heal relationships.
More from Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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Sometimes we just need a firm kick in the pants. An unsmiling expectation that if we mean all these wonderful things we talk about and sing about, then letβs see something to prove it.
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It is God's earth out of which man is taken. From it he has his body. His body belongs to his essential being. Man's body is not his prison, his shell his exterior, but man himself. Man does not "have" a body; he does not "have" a soul; rather he "is" body and soul. Man in the beginning is really his body. He is one. He is his body, as Christ is completely his body, as the Church is the body of Christ
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
...And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
Anyone who thinks that his time is too valuable to spend keeping quiet will eventually have no time for God and his brother, but only for himself and for his own follies.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
Similar quotes
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
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